Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate potential connections between schools and China’s communist regime, citing concerns about Chinese infiltration in the U.S. education system.
In a letter dated August 5th addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Cotton and seven GOP senators expressed worries that universities’ failure to disclose financial ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could pose a threat to national security.
Cotton highlighted two cases where the University of Maryland and Stanford University agreed to pay fines for failing to disclose foreign funding. He emphasized that undisclosed financial relationships between U.S. academia and the CCP present significant risks such as intellectual property theft, improper influence, and espionage.
The senator urged the DOJ in a press release to take swift action in addressing this concern by investigating schools with ties to Chinese communists. Additionally, he requested Garland’s assessment of the CCP’s threat to American students and federal research initiatives, along with steps needed from the DOJ to mitigate this threat within the U.S. education system.
Former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who previously chaired the House Select Committee on the CCP, warned about China’s threat to U.S. education during a speech at an annual meeting of university presidents last year. He stated that China had been exploiting America’s openness for its own advantage by leveraging technological advances and spreading coercive influence.
The FBI has identified various tactics used by foreign adversaries targeting U.S. academia, including funding programs like China’s Thousand Talents Program, talent recruitment efforts, joint research opportunities, language training programs, unsolicited invitations, among others.
A study conducted by Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute examined China’s “cognitive warfare” campaign aimed at promoting propaganda while spying on Chinese exchange students and stealing scientific research from American college campuses.
According to a report by Freedom House published in January 2024, authoritarian regimes like China use tools of intimidation and monitoring against international students and scholars studying or working in America as a means of suppressing criticism across university campuses.
Last year’s hearing titled “Academic Freedom Under Attack: Loosening CCP’s Grip on America’s Classrooms,” held by Early Childhood Elementary Secondary Education Subcommittee revealed aggressive influences exerted by CCP on K-12 schools across America.
A report from nonprofit group Parents Defending Education found alleged ties between CCP and school districts near 20 American military bases including Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada; San Diego Naval Base in California; Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
In August 2023 Sen Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) along with multiple GOP senators sent a letter urging Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona demanding investigation into CCP’s influence within US K-12 system.